Monthly Archives: "June 2015"

Killer Whales frolicking at Hog Bay beach

Beautiful time to come to Kangaroo Island if you love whale watching many species travel through from May till August. Don’t forget to call in and visit us at Emu Ridge on your visit!

KANGAROO Island residents were given a killer surprise recently, as six orca whales played in the water off Penneshaw.

Locals spotted the marine mammals, more commonly known as killer whales, tail slapping, rolling and playing at Hog Bay beach Penneshaw.
For the full story click here and thanks for the picture Kangaroo Island Ocean Safaris what an awesome experience!

Name our Feral Cat

Unlikely friends and our latest tourist attraction at Emu Ridge, our Emu who normally kills anything that goes into her enclosure and a feral cat. Can you name him for us please? He has a little bit of white under his chest. This goes against all we believe, but he is lovely and we don’t want to destroy their weird friendship!!

We would love you to welcome Chris. Chris has taken over Ella’s position and will be packing your online orders, tour guiding, sales and much more. Chris was a Queenslander and was working as a horticulturist but moved to KI in April, following his partner Chantelle who fell in love with KI, she works at Raptor Domain – Kangaroo Island Birds of Prey. They both love nature and bush walking so this should be a paradise for them. We are excited to have Chris on board!

We would also like you to welcome Lucy, to join the Emu Ridge team! Originally from Adelaide this busy mum of two has enjoyed being an islander for the last 2 years. Lucy is very enthusiastic about KI and local products and is also the Market manager for the Kingscote Farmers’ Market – Kangaroo Island. We are excited to have her working with us.

We recently had the Honourable Kyam Maher and his family call in to visit Emu Ridge and listen to the issues we face within our business and Kangaroo Island.

Kyam is the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation – Minister for Automotive Transformation – Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Member of Legislative Council, Australian Labor Party

His question was what 3 things would improve your business or Kangaroo Island? My answers were, we need improved infrastructure on the island and help in producing more raw product so that we can keep up supply and demand our our eucalyptus oil:

Improve our roads, if 4WD’s are not hired visitors are not allowed to drive on unsealed roads. This will increase our tourist numbers.

Upgrade the airport, this will improve competition in the tourism industry with more affordable flights this in turn will increase our tourist numbers.

Produce more eucalyptus oil. By producing more oil we can cut out the imports, create more local jobs, which helps our economy, farming of our natural resources is better for the environment. See why buying local helps us here.

Larry has always been passionate about the exploitation of all of our natural resources and sustainable farming on Kangaroo Island and the need for more responsible land management. In the below picture Larry shows the Minister a wallaby skin and tells him the story of how 100,000 wallabies are culled every year on Kangaroo Island and left to rot in the ground feeding the flies and feral cats, such a waste. In 1993 Larry worked with Michelle Leather and Macro Meats to prove it was viable to utilise our Tammar wallabies and he later received a Winston Churchill fellowship in 1998 to study the production, marketing and utilization of native flora and fauna. Unfortunately nothing has changed, government departments agreeing it is wasteful and then nothing happens. One day things will change. But this is another story! This link is a great read about Eating Australia’s Skippy equals Sustainable Farming

Natural resource, wallaby skin, our culled wallabies are all wasted and not utilized

Kyam is particularly passionate about ensuring that all South Australians are afforded the dignity that good, meaningful jobs provide, and that all South Australians are able to share in the opportunities and benefits this State offers. He has spoken on a wide range of issues including Aboriginal Affairs, equality, the importance of science in society, and the challenges facing regional and country communities.

Minister Kyam his wife Carmel and their 3 boys enjoyed a lunch of local produce here in our dining room at Emu Ridge consisting of local dips and sheep milk cheeses, Halloumi Cheese Entrée, and Mains, Fish and Chicken served with Suzanne Rose Potato Bake, Tretheweys steamed broccoli and garlic and KI Honey roast carrots, local salad and Pudding and custard for dessert.

We hope the minister and his family enjoyed his time here and lets hope his travels around the island has given him a great insight of the view of local Business’s.

Farewell Ella, we will miss you!

From School Days to working her last day and doing her last guided tour. Over the last 6 years you have changed from a shy, quite school girl to a conscientious hard-working staff member and friend. Farewell Ella, we will miss you! Love the Emu Ridge Staff.

A sneak peak of some of the things you will see if you visit Kangaroo Island… enjoy!

We would love to see you if you are visiting KI. We founded our business Emu Ridge in 1991. A very unique and interesting place to visit, we are proud to have saved Australia’s history, Eucalyptus oil was our first truly Australian product exported overseas and the first major industry for Kangaroo Island. Our pure natural Australian products are also available online, so you can enjoy them even if you aren’t able to visit our beautiful Island.

Such a gorgeous motto for life. “Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time”.

We are so lucky to live on Kangaroo Island, it is such an unspoilt wilderness. We love our business ethos at Emu Ridge and our natural products. If you’re visiting or on any holiday – this is a wonderful motto. We all need some time to sit back and reflect on the beauty of life and sometimes we need to make sure we don’t get caught up in the fast world of today. Take a break from that busy life and just enjoy the simple things!

It would be nice to think that the detergents we use have natural ingredients. However, for the majority of detergents this is not the case.

A study done by the University of Washington on leading detergents showed that 99% of laundry detergents on the market contained cancer causing chemicals that are considered hazardous by the EPA.

However most of these ingredients in your leading laundry detergents are not even listed on the label. Now that is scary.

Most detergent companies patent their formulas and are not legally required to disclose all the ingredients despite the fact that they are hazardous to health. They hide these ingredients under umbrella labels such as “fragrance” or “flavorings” in the case of foods.

The deadliest of these chemicals is nonylphenol ethoxylate. It is a main ingredient in pesticides and is used to kill organisms. It imitates the hormone estrogen within the body and is extremely harmful. When this chemical along with others enter into your bloodstream through contact with your skin they cause serious damage to the body. The Journal of Pesticide Reform shows that these chemicals cause severe damage to heart and muscle function.

Another main ingredient not listed but contained in the majority of laundry detergents is formaldehyde. The EPA has reported that formaldehyde causes cancer in both humans and animals. Formaldehyde is the same chemical that is used to preserve dead bodies for dissection – not exactly the chemical you want to put into a living body. In addition to this, it causes severe allergic reactions in the body and the gas can irritate your breathing and cause nausea and headaches.

Many of these ingredients are hidden under the broad label “fragrance”, not being required to list the specifics that go into it as proprietary formulas. There was a big controversy that is still going on in food products with “the natural flavors” label for instance. Many vegetarians are eating meat without knowing it and even aborted fetal cells and sweat glands of animals that are all hidden under the natural flavorings label. It is quite disturbing to say the least that companies are not required to disclose all their ingredients and put the worst ones under these categories.

These chemicals from your laundry detergent absorb through your skin and accumulate in the body over time. There are remnants of them on the clothes that you wear that get taken in daily. If you have irritable skin from your clothes or headaches when wearing your clothes, this can be the result of the chemicals in the modern brand laundry detergents which are not disclosed on the bottle. Over time these hidden chemcials weaken your immune system. Skin cancer is on the rise these days and this is yet another reason why as everyone is being poisoned today from so many toxins around them and in what they take into their bodies as a result.

The next time you stop to smell the laundry detergent, don’t forget you might actually be inhaling formaldehyde and these other toxic chemicals into the body. Removing chemicals from your daily life and that of your loved ones is essential to good health. Knowing what goes into and on your body is fundamental to being healthy and happy.

We produce our own laundry liquid but unfortunately the postage costs are much greater than the product. So I would like to share with you our recipe so that you can make your own. Its great for everything, biodegradable easy to make, economical! Our laundry liquid is available on Kangaroo Island and some stores in Adelaide. Click here for sizes and prices.
If you are in Adelaide its available in certain stores, please contact us if you would like to know where.

Hi, Emu Ridge continues to evolve since our last newsletter. For those that have visited us we have built a huge deck at the front of our shop that can cater for larger functions, seating up to 150 people, this was built to cater for our youngest daughter’s wedding last December. See this link for deck transformation and the wedding. We’re excited that you can now keep up with us by following our blog on our website,Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page. We hope you enjoy our newsletter

Warm regards Larry, Bev and the Emu Ridge staff.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

ALL NATURAL GLASS CLEANER

There are many great benefits when it comes to making your own cleaning products. Not only do they help you save money, but you also know exactly what’s in them.

This homemade glass cleaner recipe is a simple, easy to make solution that uses everyday ingredients from around your home. It works effectively and is much better for our environment. Please click for the full recipe on our blog.

EUCALYPTUS TIP OF THE MONTH

On Kangaroo Island winter has just begun which means cold and flu season is upon us! So this month’s tip is all about helping to keep away those nasty flu and cold symptoms.

With our pure Eucalyptus oiljust add a few drops in the bottom of the shower, or add about 15 drops in a bowl of steaming hot water and inhale, covering your head with a towel. This is great as a decongestant! You can even mix a few drops of our Eucalyptus oil with a carrier oil (e.g. Emu oil) and rub on chest, back and feet. This is a great natural alternative! We also sell our own all natural vapor rub.

We would like to offer our Valued customers a FREE GIFT to thankyou for your support. Spend $50 or more this month and mention this SPECIAL from our newsletter when you order to receive our LIP BALM valued at $7.95.

EUCALYPTUS HONEY SWEETS

Our sweets have always been a popular choice, all natural, no artificial colours or flavours and gluten free. The soothing antibacterial properties of our eucalyptus oil and healing properties of pure Kangaroo Island honey make it effective in clearing your nose, soothing your throat and giving freshness to your breath.

BLOGGING ALONG..

Most of you that browse our website might notice that we love to add to our blog. Everything from sharing our favourite Eucalyptus recipe to DIY projects, and even sharing photos and experiences we have here at Emu Ridge.

DIY – DOG BED MADE OF PALLETS..

One of our popular blogs is a project that shows you how to make pet beds from pallets, this page has some great ideas including tips on how to keep your pet and home free from fleas.

For those of you that love multi media technology and have a favorite social network, we are keeping up with the times.

We have some great boards that you can follow on pinterest.

Our Facebook page is a great way to share fun and intersting ideas plus keep up with whats happening at Emu Ridge

Instagram is new to me one of our new staff members Lucy will be posting here!

Twitter also a new addition will also be handled by Lucy.

We hope you enjoy keeping in touch with us via your favorite social network!

TESTIMONIALS

We have added a testimonials page to our website. Nothing pleases us more than to hear the wonderful ways that our products have helped, what our customers think and recommend to others. Have a look and see what others have said and we would love to hear from you to. Thanks to those that have taken the time to share thier experience. Much appreciated!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read our newsletter, we hope you have found it useful and we hope to get the next one to you on a more regular basis.